Perfecting Normality
by Tametiger
Summary: One shot. Bella left hunting to take care of Charlie, never realising how much she'd miss it and miss two brothers.


**Hi, I got a massive case of writers block and wrote this to try and get past it. I really liked writing it and hope you enjoy my little one shot. **

**Twilight does not belong to me. Supernatural doesn't either. **

Perfecting Normality

For some reason these last few days I haven't been able to get my old life out of my head. Every action I take makes me remember, makes me miss it, makes me yearn to be back.

I've been out of the game for two years now, well mostly. Once you're a hunter you're never completely out, I've been doing any hunts near by or in my sleepy little town, but I've stopped chasing them cross country, and I miss it. More than I would have thought when I was actually doing it, day in, day out.

"Hey Bell, head in the game girl!" My boss Harriet shouts at me, I look up to see a table waving at me. Apparently they've been trying to get my attention for a while now.

"Sorry Harry!" I call back before heading over to the table with a smile plastered onto my face. I know from years of schooling my facial expressions that you can't tell it's fake. That you can't tell what it's costing me to put it on.

I clear the table and head back to the kitchen, pushing the door open with my foot in an amazing juggling act.

_Raising my foot and pushing a door with so much force it buckles before caving in. The wood splintering with a sharp crash before I can run into the house to help the screaming occupants._

Despite this the Lodge where I work is busy, graduation week is upon us and as the only formal dining available in our tiny town we're swamped, and I'm kept busy, meaning time flies.

Cutting lemons and limes for drinks and garnishes.

_A head rolling to the floor with a bang after my sharp machete cuts through the vamp with somehow satisfying resistance. _

Lighting candles on the top of a congratulations cake.

_Flicking open my zippo and throwing it on to the corpse still lying in the six foot grave. _

Catching a small child as she trips up on a chair leg.

_Running to a body on the ground, trying desperately to find a pulse. My own heart calming as I find a rythmical throb that tells me they're still alive. _

Finally my section calms down enough for me to turn to one of my colleagues. "Hey DC! I'm taking five, cover me!" I call already stripping off my apron and throwing it behind the bar on my way out.

"Bell! It's a long way to the top..." DC calls at me, his dull blue eyes smiling as well as his mouth.

"If you wanna rock n roll." I reply with an eyeroll. "Dude, you gotta do better if you wanna catch me out!" I say before walking out the back-door, ready for a break, from my own mangled thoughts more than the work.

Working at the Lodge wasn't too bad. The hours weren't too bad when you thought about it. The pay sucked but tips could easily make up for that if you were good, which I was. And the people I worked with were mostly cool. _Not as cool as... _I cut my own brain off before I could follow that train of thought. Stupid thinking that didn't help anything. I wasn't going back, not yet. I wasn't ready, yet.

Stepping out into the freezing Washington air I sighed. It had started snowing. Fucking great. My truck had broken down, again, before I came to work and I hadn't had time to fix it yet. Which meant I was either walking or...

I pulled out my phone with my cigarettes, lighting one before dialling a familiar number.

"Hey." A lazy, deep voice answered me.

"Hi." I said before taking in a deep drag of my lit cigarette. Relishing the burn down my throat.

_Passing a lit joint between the three of us, getting happier and gigglier. _

Lost in my thoughts for a second I realised I'd missed what had been said.

"Sorry what?" I asked.

"Don't be like that baby. I said I'm sorry." I knew this, we'd been through this before. Often.

"You know what Craig? Forget it. Doesn't matter. Why this time?" I asked with a sigh. Craig was a guy I was suppose to be seeing, though I spent most of my time having to listen to some bullshit about why he couldn't meet me. Normally I wouldn't put up with his shit, but everyone has needs and Craig more than forfilled mine in the bedroom. And to be honest that was all I cared about at the minute.

"I gotta go into work." Craig answered. I knew it was crap, I knew that cause he worked at Newton's, and it was closed, I could see it from here. At least the boy was pretty, cause he certainly didn't have brains going for him.

"Whatever, see you whenever yeah?" I said finishing my ciggy and trying to work out if I had time for another.

"You still want me to come over tonight and tuck you in baby?" Craig drawled down the line, his voice lusty. Yeah I could have another. Fuck it.

"No. I'll see ya whenever." I replied before putting the phone down, pleasantly surprised at my own resilience.

I quickly finished my second cigarette before stomping it out, a deep sigh escaping me as I headed back into work.

"All good?" I asked DC as I tied my apron back round my waist and washed my hands.

"You know it. I'm all over it like the front end of a car." DC replied with a smile. I'd been working here for almost two years now and for all of that time I'd worked with DC. He was a good friend, funny, nice and witty. Unfortunately for both me and him he'd also been hit with the ugly tree. "How about this one Belle? Mississippi Queen, yeah if you know what I mean..."

"Mississippi Queen, she taught me everything." I replied while looking over my section. Ever since DC had found out I was a fan of classic rock he'd been testing me on lyrics, trying to catch me out. He hadn't done yet. "Too easy."

"I'll get you one day." He replied looking slightly downcast. He'd get over it.

"Uh-huh." I said with a smirk, wasn't gonna happen. I'd been travelling in a car that played nothing but classic rock twenty four seven since I was fourteen.

I carried on working, my mind kept returning to hunting, to the life I'd left too long ago, except for when I was bantering with the guys I worked with.

It felt like seconds later that all my tables had left, only a handful of people left in the entire restaurant. I stretched and yawned as the door opened with a jingle.

"I got it." I called as I headed over to the arrivals.

"Hey, sorry but we're closing..." I started saying as I approached the two men who'd entered, their backs to me.

"We don't wanna eat. Give us the money and no-one gets hurt!" One of the men growled at me in a low voice as both men turned around wearing ski masks and carrying guns. Shitty tin pot shooters that while they could pack a mean punch were no good for anything other than robbing people with.

"Err... Yeah sure... Just don't... Don't hurt me okay!" I managed to put a squeak of fear into my voice that I really wasn't feeling. But I needed them to split up away from each other slightly.

"Just do it quickly and we won't hurt you!" The second, slightly shorter man said, his deep voice just above a whisper.

I started walking back into the restaurant, one man at my side, the other guarding the door. Perfect.

Screams echoed round the vast room as people saw what was happening. Harry and DC behind the counter both raised their arms and paled, eyes wide, shaking. I felt really bad for them, this must have been terrifying.

I stopped dead in the middle of the restaurant, still in sight of the door. "Hey lady move it!" The man next to me barked, his hand wrapping around my arm and trying to tug me forward, he was pretty strong, his grip was gonna leave a bruise.

"Dude, you really shouldn't have come." I said not bothering to keep my voice down.

"What?" The man managed to get out before I pulled out of his grasp and pushed his gun up to the ceiling with both hands. I brought my knee up and hit him hard in the gut. He groaned out and I took one of my hands of his gun arm to send a left hook to his temple. He went down hard. Knocked unconscious.

"Wayne!" The other gun man shouted pointing his gun at me. "What the fuck did you do to him bitch!" The man screamed his finger clicking off the safety on his gun, then going to the trigger.

I flicked the safety off of Wayne's gun, which had been left in my grasp when he fell to the floor, and chambered a round. I aimed and shot, straight in the knee.

The man screamed and feel to the floor, accompanied by gasps and screams from the remaining dinners. On the floor he raised his gun once more.

With an almost lazy lift of my arm I took aim once more and shot him through the hand. That sure made him drop his god damn piece.

Stunned silence settled over the restaurant except for gun man number two's screams, which turned slowly into whimpers.

"I told ya you shouldn't have come here." I muttered before turning to DC and Harry. "You might wanna call the police. I'm going for a cigarette." I announced with indifference. Hoping beyond hell that I'd be able to go home early now. My day had been way too eventful.

~0~

It had been hell. The pigs turned up and questioned us all for what felt like hours. All my work colleagues were labelling me a hero, both attempted robbers were taken to the hospital and it was two hours before I could make my escape. Still early though.

I trudged back home in the bitter cold, snow falling down fast around me. It was a half an hour walk and I already felt like hypothermia was setting in ten minutes into it.

As I walked down the wooded road that led home I started thinking again, nothing to take my thoughts away, nothing to do except carrying on walking and thinking.

I thought back to how I'd got out. How I'd had no choice but to get out.

Charlie had been dying. He'd been diagnosed with cancer and only rang to tell me when it had been so far along that there was nothing anyone could do.

I couldn't leave him to die on his own, I couldn't miss his last few months. I'd never forgive myself.

So I'd headed for Forks, the place my dad lived, with the view that I'd only be here for as long as it took.

Charlie had lived well past when he was supposed to. Making it both harder and easier on me.

In the year and a half that he'd managed to cling to life I'd gotten to know my father, who until then had been a distant figure in the back of my life.

Four months later and I still had trouble coming to terms with it, even though we'd all known it had been coming. Four months later and still as I reached my door, water poured down my face that I tried to trick myself into thinking was just melting snow.

~0~

The bath was running, the dinner was in the oven and my music was blaring.

I was dancing around my house doing chores and cursing at every broken thing round the crappy place that I still hadn't got round to fixing. The lose door, the broken handle, the wobbling table leg, the leaking roof. The list was endless, but that had been why I'd booked a whole week off work, so I could fix the crap shack up.

I closed my eyes and did a brilliant solo on the air guitar as Metallica started up. Heaven this wasn't, but it wasn't so bad either.

Someone pounding at the door brought my little slice of peace crashing down. Cursing I turned the music off and stomped to the front door, making sure as I did that my salt lines were still in place and the doormat covered the devils trap under it. I swore that if Craig was at my door I was gonna knock him out. Douche bag.

I swung the door open, a fierce expression on my face only to stop dead.

Dean Winchester was stood on my door step.

"Oh my god. Dean?" I asked, taking in his defeated posture and crushed face.

"Bella." Dean said, one word conveying so much hurt and need it was painful.

I held my arms out instinctively and was surprised when Dean folded himself into them. His body shook against mine.

It took me a minute to realise that Dean was crying. Not just crying but sobbing.

That left me with only one question.

My heart breaking, my own tears coming already I whispered; "Sam or Bobby?"


End file.
